Yesterday we saw the first images of sets for the new Total Recall sets, on them some white-suited troopers. Now we’ve got the first image of Colin Farrell in the lead role of Doug Quaid, a factory worker who learns, or thinks he learns, that he is really a spy for one of two nation states, Euromerica or New Shanghai. See the full image after the break. Read More »

Marc Webb‘s 3D Spider-Man reboot The Amazing Spider-Man won’t hit theaters for almost a year and a half, yet Sony has already ordered development of a sequel. Columbia Pictures has hired screenwriter James Vanderbilt to pen a follow-up. THR reports that Vanderbilt “had a meeting with the Spider-Man filmmakers and studio execs yesterday outlining his take, getting a thumbs up, and will now begin writing.”

Brian Bendis is a well known, well respected bestselling comic author. He has won critical acclaim including five Eisner Awards (the comic equivalent of the Oscar), and remains one of the most successful writers working in mainstream comics. Bendis was behind the Spider-Man comic book reboot, Ultimate Spider-Man, which he continues to write ten-years and 130-something issues later. Could Bendis be consulting on the upcoming 3D Spider-Man reboot?

Sony Pictures has confirmed that the upcoming Spider-Man reboot will be distributed in 3D. The studio hasn’t revealed if the movie will be filmed using 3D cameras or be converted in post production. I assume the former, since the decision is being made during pre-production. The new movie which still remains untitled (I’m betting on “The Amazing Spider-Man“), will begin production later this year directed by (500) Days of Summer helmer Marc Webb from a screenplay by James Vanderbilt. Sony has also announced a July 3rd 2012 release date. You can read the full press release, after the jump.

The first trailer for The Losershas now been unveiled courtesy of MSN. You can see it embedded below the break. What follows is a lightly updated post originally servicing a clip of the trailer, and not the full thing we now have.

This film will be a solid rival for The A Team, I think, spinning a similar tale of a wronged bunch of military folk who then band together and use their skills against naughty types. The naughty types here are the double crossing CIA who stitched them up in the first place.

The film adaptation features Zoe Saldana, Jeffrey Dean Morgan, Idris Elba and Chris Evans and was directed by Sylvain White. The script is credited to both Peter Berg and James Vanderbilt, the man behind the upcoming Spider-Man reboot screenplays.

So many daft catch phrases have come and gone, I don’t know why “Outstanding!” didn’t catch on after Avatar. Maybe Jeffrey Dean Morgan will have a little more luck with it.

Last month Sam Raimi hiredGary Ross to rewrite Rabbit Hole playwright David Lindsay-Abaire‘s draft of Spider-Man 4, original draft penned by James Vanderbilt. Tonight it has been revealed that Sony has hired another screenwriter to take on the webbed Marvel superhero. But not for the fourth film… Sony has hired Vanderbilt to pen the next two films in the Spider-Man franchise, Spider-Man 5 and Spider-Man 6.

Sony is in final talks with Pulitzer Prize-winning playwright David Lindsay-Abaire to write Spider-Man 4. It’s unclear if Lindsay is doing an entirely new take on the material, or if he’s rewriting James Vanderbilt‘s recent draft. THR claims that director Sam Raimi and stars Tobey Maguire and Kirsten Dunst are all expected the return for the fourth film. As expected, plot details are non existent at this point.

Most of Lindsay-Abaire’s plays center around “outsiders in search of clarity”, a view of life which no doubt formed while being a lower-class student in the prestigious boarding school. Lindsay-Abaire is known for his character work, which might mean that Sony is trying to address the problems of the third film.

The bad news is that Lindsay-Abaire has writing credits on two screenplays, Robots and Inkheart, neither of which would be considered great scripts. Lindsay-Abaire’s 2006 Broadway stage production of Rabbit Hole starred Cynthia Nixon and Tyne Daly. David also recently wrote the lyrics for Shrek The Musical. The hire of a pulitzer prize-winning writer is nothing new for the Spdier-Man series, as one of the writers on Spider-Man 2 was Michael Chabon, another Pulitzer winner.

Don’t count director Sam Raimi out just yet. The Spider-Man series director is waiting to read James Vanderbilt‘s (Zodiac) latest draft, which he says is due in a few months, before he decides if he will helm the project or not.

“I’m excited to read it,” Raimi told SciFi. “I’m hoping it’s as great as our discussions were about it and hoping it feels right for me, because I love Spider-Man, and I’m hoping I’m well-enough rested to, like, really embrace it and hoping that Sony wants me at that time to direct it. So if all those things come together, I would love, love to do it. But this is a lot of unknowns about the future.”

Raimi also reiterated that he would “hate to recast anybody” new in the key roles, and “can’t imagine that” actually happening. I have the feeling that Raimi was a little less excited to do a fourth film six months ago. It’s funny how time changes everything. I just hope that Sony gave Raimi room to develop a story with Vanderbilt that he is comfortable with. It seemed clear that Raimi wasn’t interested in including Venom in the third film, but was forced to by the studio. The overcrowding of characters was one of the main reasons the film failed with audiences. Oh yeah, and the Jazz bar sequence, which Raimi has no excuse for.

Will the original squad be back, or will Sony recruit new talent? A week ago we reported on the rumor that Spider-Man 4 and Spider-Man 5 will be filmed back-to-back, Back to the Future styles. Today, a quote from Marvel’s Vice Chairman, Peter Cuneo, hit the Net via IESB regarding Sony‘s stirring plans for a third sequel…

“As far as Spider-man 4, it’s really up to Sony, it’s up to them, most likely scenario is 2010 or 2011 but we can’t speak for them and I think, that we don’t know. They have given us their re-up payment for that film so you know they’re going to make it within a reasonable time frame. Sony may be looking at some issues with the cast and so on, I think they have to make some decisions.”

Maybe it’s me, but all of these recent quotes from Marvel honchos have a newfound tone of “We’re kicking ass and taking names, and, of course, we have outside properties as well. No big deal.” So, screenwriter James Vanderbilt (Zodiac) has apparently turned in a script for Spidey 4 that inherently ties to a fifth film; if this is how the franchise plays out, I’d imagine (rather predictably, yes) that an unprecedented bag of cash the size of a Dubai island would need to be exchanged to bring back Sam Raimi, Tobey Maguire and Kirsten Dunst. And if I had to place a blind bet, I’d say a new A-list director (and, if so, probably a new star) is in store to bring Peter Parker into the next decade. Dunst is the cigarettes to the keys and wallet, here. What does your Magic 8ball tell you?

Sony Pictures has hired Zodiac scribe James Vanderbilt to write Spider-Man 4. Thank god Sam Raimi is not writing this one: He’s a great director, but the screenplay for Spider-Man 3 was a mess. Vanderbilt’s scriptology includes The Rundown, Basic and Darkness Falls. James also did a polish on X-Men Origins: Wolverine, and wrote the screenplay for the upcoming adaptation of the Vertigo comic book The Losers.

However, I’m not sure if Vanderbilt will be able to start writing anytime soon, with the writers Strike set to begin within hours. The fourth Spider-Man film is set to hit theaters in 2009 (presumably Summer). Sam Raimi has yet to commit to the project, and has recently said that he wants to see how the script turns out first. Industry insiders say that Raimi is waiting on The Hobbit before committing to any big projects. Raimi has said that he will only do the Lord of the Rings prequel if Peter Jackson settles his feud/lawsuit with New Line, and come on board the project as producer.